Coping Mechanism
by mere oye
Summary: The death of a loved one is painful to all who experience it. We mourn, yet we mend our broken hearts and we move on carrying the memories with us. But what about those who are unable to move on?   Character Death, Addiction. Warnings Inside.


_Descent into the Maelstrom_

_

* * *

_

**Prologue**

* * *

If you mention the village of _Uzushiogakure_ to the younger generations, chances are that you would observe many raised eyebrows and questioning looks upon their faces. If you asked those same people about the spiral that adorned the shoulders and backs of our Chunin and Jounin shinobi, they would reply with a answer that would be partially correct to the truth -

"It stands for our unity."

Now, for anyone, if you ask them something on the lines of; "What do you picture when you hear the name Uzumaki?" They see the blonde haired, blue eyed loud mouth named Uzumaki Naruto.

Add _Clan_ to that name and once again eyebrows would raise and eyes would roll in humor, "There is no such thing as a Uzumaki clan." with the older generations adding a whispers _anymore_.

In truth there was once a Uzumaki clan, a clan that seemed to have been erased not just from the lands but also from several scrolls, books that are not on the backs of shelves covered with dust, and memories.

_Uzushiogakure was once a beautiful village that held close tides with Konoha itself, ties that had been set and sealed through cement and blood. _

Blood that ran through Konoha's Senju clan and _Uzushiogakure's Uzumaki clan._

_Even through they were distant relatives to one another, that mattered not to either clan. For them, they shared the same ancestors, the same history along with its struggles. This made their bond stronger than any type of treaty made of paper and ink._

_The Uzumaki clan founded their village namesake and settled it at a beautiful location that sat in the middle of tall hills and mountains, a large river with beautiful crystal clear water parted the lands as it lead the way to the ocean. _

_Many dubbed that river the ____Fountain of Youth__, due to their long lives that were longer than the average man._

_Their people, even those not of the prominent clan, were powerful and intelligent – always learning and mastering a new jutsu, creating those they called their own. _

_However, what their central talent was in _Fūinjutsu.

The art of sealing that they had studied and perfected, invented and mastered.

That talent brought on the downfall of the Village Hidden among the Whirling Tides

and the Uzumaki people.

People fled and spread out around the the globe, but rarely had the unique red hair of the Uzumaki people been seen.

Tsunade, one of the _Densetsu no Sannin_, the Gondaime Hokage, granddaughter to the Shodai Hokage, could only recall seeing the dark red hair and stormy-blue eyes only twice – her grandmother Uzumaki Mito and another girl she, regrettably, only met once by the name of Uzumaki Kushina.

The blonde haired woman thought that she would never see those traits again, not as long as she lived. She had thought maybe all of the Uzumaki's, except for the child with blonde hair and blue eyes, had perished.

All of that was until the noise outside of the door of the Hokage's office brought her out of her alcohol induce slumber.

"Shut up...!" She called out to those outside of the door, glaring at it when the noise didn't stop. "Shut up!" Tsunade once again said but this time, when the noise continued, she jumped up from the chair behind the desk quickly, knocking the wooden object to the ground and stomped over to the door.

"Hokage-sama!" She sent a glare towards the Chunin, Mibu Shinobu, causing him to back up a few steps. "H-Hokage-sama...there...there...t-there..."

"Out with it!"

"T-there are people at the gates requesting to see you!" He blurted, "We-well, the Sandaime actually..." His voice trailed off as Tsunade turned on her heels and stomped off towards the exit with Shizune and Tonton trailing after her.

"What the hell is going on out here!" The Godaime neared the front gates of her village, ready to release hell at the disturbance. "Who the hell-" the sight before her stopped her rampage and her anger quickly settled as she sobered within a second.

That hair...

Those eyes...

"W-who...?"

In the middle of her guards and the strangers with features that seemed for distant, like a dream, one turned towards Tsunade with his aging features calm but his eyes blazing. With gray-blue eyes he measured her up – Was she a threat? His eyes seemed to say.

Quickly putting herself back together the Godiame crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her golden eyes. "Who are you?" She finally managed to get out, though her face was sculpted into the mask of authority inside she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Uzumaki-" Those around them, including her ANBU guards with kunai in their hands, gasped in shock and disbelief at the name, "Daichi."

Before he had even spoke, she knew or at least had the feeling of who these people were. None of the four who stood before her wore any type of shinobi gear or protection, nothing to identify who they were.

Nothing except for the Spirals that adorned their yukata's.

"And you?" The man finally inquired, seemingly bored of the silence.

"Tsunade..." She began, trying to once more pull herself from her shocked state. "Granddaughter of Senju Hashirama and-"

"Uzumaki Mito." A warm smile replaced the from of indifference on the mans face, "My great-aunt."

Within the blink of an eye, the smile vanished from his lips and he became serious once again.

"Tsunade," The man began, placing his hands into the large sleeves of his clothing, "I am here for my Grandson."

* * *

_Densetsu no Sannin – Legendary the Ninja_


End file.
